Since my childhood growing up in rural Australia, I've stepped outside my comfort zone many times. Along the way I've learnt that only by risking failure can we create a truly rewarding life. I hope this column inspires you to do just that - daring to think bigger, to engage more courageously in conversation and to boldly pursue your greatest aspirations.

But then, they’re called cynics for a reason. While I’ve never met Mayer, and can only speculate at her motives, she’s clearly driven far less by what you or I think and far more by what will serve the best interests of Yahoo’s stakeholders. It’s also why I admire her. She makes her own rules; she runs her own show.

As I say in this interview from Fox and Friends with Alisyn Camereto this morning, because Mayer is a young, attractive female CEO – not to mention a new mother trying to turn around an aging former tech titan – she has been under the spotlight. Every decision she makes is doubly scrutinized, particularly when it relates to juggling family and career. But Mayer is a woman who marches to the beat of her own drum, knows her value, and doesn’t let the risk of disapproval sway her. She’s also the kind of leader we need to see more of, and not just because she’s a woman (though we need more of them too!) As I have written in my latest book Stop Playing Safe, “In an era where people are increasingly cautious and unwilling to risk failure (much less criticism in global headlines), organizations today are in dire need of leaders at every level – male and female alike – with courage and mettle who will do what they see is right for the long term sustainability of their organization ahead of what wins accolades or simply avoids the risk of failing and losing face in the process.” Yahoo has found one in Mayer.

The latest changes at Yahoo, which double women’s maternity leave to 16 weeks and extend paternity leave and leave for those who adopt to 8 weeks, reveal several things about Yahoo’s seemingly fearless female leader. First, it validates that Mayer is not a hypocrite when it comes to supporting working women, but is simply doing what she feels is in the best interest of Yahoo’s 14,000 strong workforce – ensuring they still have a great place to work 10 years from now. I just hope that this move is also coupled with similar initiatives to support women once they get back to work to maintain some semblance of work-life balance. While having enough time with a new baby to get it sleeping through the night (which often takes 3-4 months, or even longer for some…like mine) is important to ensure new mums aren’t turning up at work like sleep-deprived zombies, being able to maintain some semblance of balance once back in the job is no less so.

Second, it makes Yahoo a more attractive place to work for anyone who values family life, particularly those in the family-expanding stage of life, many of whom will be leading the charge on innovation at Yahoo in the years ahead. As a mother of four children, I can’t imagine what parent wouldn’t value longer maternity and paternity leave benefits (it took me at least four months to squeeze back into my pre-baby clothes!) It also brings Yahoo’s benefits closer in line when measured against its key Silicon Valley competitors such as GoogleGoogle and Facebook. Google offers 22 weeks paid parental leave to new mothers and seven weeks to fathers, while Facebook currently offers four months paid leave to both mothers and fathers. As a Yahoo representative said following the announcement “We’ve been focused on making Yahoo the absolute best place to work.” Attracting and retaining top talent will be crucial for Yahoo so this, along with its other improved benefits – including 8 weeks paid leave after 5 years’ service and free food – certainly move it a large stride in that direction.

Finally, it reconfirms a clear message to all stakeholders: Mayer means business and will continue to make whatever changes she deems necessary to turn the once floundering Yahoo ship around. Given that Yahoo’s stock has increased by nearly 50% between July 2012 when she came on board and the beginning of April 2013, creating $6.8 billion in additional value for shareholders, it would seem she’s doing just that.

Good leadership isn’t always popular leadership. It takes courage and requires putting your reputation on the line. Likewise, some of Mayers changes have been welcomed. Some have been condemned, as we witnessed earlier this year. But one thing is for sure, Mayer is no-one’s lapdog. There is a very good reason that she found herself in Yahoo’s hot seat at 37, knowing she’d be having her first child a few months later. It’s that she is smart, strategic, bold and willing to risk whatever wrath may come her way if she thinks it’s going to give Yahoo the advantage it needs in an increasingly competitive market.

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I don’t see shit difference in YaFooie!! In 10 YEARS of using YaFooie!! home page and mail … THEY STILL LET 80% of SPAM THROUGH! …. Now they’re TOO LAZY TO WRITE THE DAYS OF THE WEEK in their Weather Module – INSTEAD now they write “Today, Tomorrow and the Day After”!! Half the damn Modules DON’T WORK! FOX News Doesn’t Work! Options in Modules DON’T EXIST ANYMORE.

YaFooie!! is good for shit. And now Google is dropping iGoogle Home Page! Damn!

Thanks for writing this article about Marissa. I also admire her because she is an example for women and men today. Bold, smart and strategic, she believes in herself and has a vision of what needs to be done in order to take Yahoo to the next level. And she is not afraid of doing it.

It reminds me of my Zumba instructor wise words: everybody has a beat. Have you found yours?

I could be wrong, but this most recent move feels to me quite reactionary, driven at least in part by desire to undo the reputational harm done by the last one. Seems like the fingerprints of PR counsel are quite visible on it…

Hi Victor, Obviously I don’t know what’s going on inside Mayer’s head but I would have to disagree. Yahoo’s parental leave benefits were significantly lagging behind her major competitors and I think this policy change is motivated by her desire to make Yahoo a more attractive place to work that attracts and retains the quality of talent she needs to stay in the game and regain Yahoo’s competitive footing. Of course only time will tell but from where I stand, it’s a smart move made for solid business reasons, not to save face and restore her reputation. The results she produces will do the talking for her on that front.

And that is why it’s doubly reactionary. Not only is it a reaction to her “no more work at home” policy, she is also just reacting to the industry norm, where her company is woefully under the bar. We haven’t exactly seen anything new in her leadership.

I’m also dubious about this article. Just like your other article praising the no work at home policy, this one is celebrating a move which should have taken effect last year, if she were truly serious in turning things around. Why is it only now being done, when Yahoo’s been lagging behind against Google, Facebook and the like for ages?

It’s clearly reactionary, and I am seeing way too much bias in this article simply because Mayers is a young, pretty female CEO that people can get behind just because she smiles for the camera. We should stop judging these CEOs by their pretty faces and instead for the results they bring.

Yahoo’s two important businesses, its homepage and its email, are still woefully behind the times. Yahoo Mail is a slow version of the old Gmail, and the homepage, despite feedback from users that they prefer less clutter, is still one of the most cluttered homepages of any major Silicon Valley company.

I’ll give this to Mayers, though: stock price went up just because she sat in the CEO chair. I’ll give her that, and a good job she’s done there.

This was surprisingly in depth.People are quick to forget how bad it was at yahoo. Many had come to written it off, but Mayer not only saved it rather quickly. But she is adding too it and this “extended leave” is just one of the many things she is fixing, in a very quick time period. I look forward to reading more of your articles.